Syria accuses US, allied militants of blocking humanitarian aid in Dayr al-Zawr

The Syrian government has accused US military forces and their allied Kurdish militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of blocking deliveries of critical humanitarian supplies to internally displaced people in the country’s embattled eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

Mohammed Dhiab, the media coordinator for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) in the province, told Syria’s official news agency SANA on Tuesday that a convoy of 10 truckloads of drinking water, medicine, hygiene products and other basic commodities was once again prevented from passing al-Salihiyah crossing point.

He added that the convoy had been stopped at the Kurdish-controlled crossing point for five consecutive days before being denied entry under the pretext that American forces in the area had not allowed the passage.

Dhiab further noted that US troops and SDF militants placed concrete barriers and barricades in front of the trucks at last.

The official went on to say that the aid convoy had been provided by the Syrian government, SARC as well as the Russian Coordination Center, and was destined for the town of Hajin, which lies along the Euphrates River and south of the provincial capital city of Dayr al-Zawr. 

On January 31, US forces and Kurdish militants prevented an aid convoy from the Syrian government and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent from reaching villagers in the rural outskirts of Dayr al-Zawr despite guarantees from the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) concerning free and unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid shipments throughout the Syrian territory.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on May 4 last year that the US was blocking deliveries of humanitarian supplies from international organizations to the Rukban refugee camp in southern Syria.

“Despite earlier-made hopeful statements, US representatives continue to block any deliveries of humanitarian aid to the Rukban refugee camp, where about 50,000 Syrians, most of them women, elderly people and children, need help,” Konashenkov said.

“The US regional command refuses to guarantee safe entry for UN and ICRC aid convoys, insisting that all products, water and necessities should be transferred only to militant gangs controlled by Americans… The humanitarian situation also remains difficult in Syria’s Raqqah, which turned into a ghost city after the carpet bombing by the international coalition,” he stressed.

“After liberation from the grip of terrorists, Raqqah residents were deprived of the possibility to receive humanitarian aid from international organizations due to the unwillingness of the US to admit convoys from Syrian authorities and international organizations,” Konashenkov pointed out.

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